Reloading /gun tips

[conditor22]

Look up a new load once, close the book and look it up again. Chances of reading it wrong twice are less and you might remember it. It's best to check new loads with several different published books.

 

[DLS]

Look up a new load once, close the book and look it up again. Chances of reading it wrong twice are less and you might remember it. It's best to check new loads with several different published books.

Along with this I never even attempt to memorize loads. I always look them up, even if the loading session is broken up by something as short as grabbing a quick bite of lunch.

I get some pretty funny looks when BSing at the range and people ask me about my loads … because I force myself not to rememger so as not to be tempted to go from memory … as memory can be fatal! So when asked I say, let's look at the label on the box and see what I've got!

I always recheck my scale zero at the start of each session. Also at the start of each session I will weigh the charges my powder measure is throwing, even if it is was left set up from the session before. You never know how or when something could happen to change the setting. It's a few seconds of time for peace of mind. To me that's not paranoid, but a fair and valuable use of my time.

 

[conditor22]

↑↑↑ That's where you write the load on a piece of blue tape and stick it to your powder measure ↑↑↑

 

[conditor22]

If and when you are reloading shotshells, no matter how tempted you are, don't stick your finger in the "wad guide".

 

[conditor22]

IF something doesn't look [or feel] right on a powder charge, [or anything reloading related] dump it out and re-do it.

 

[conditor22]

If your reloading bench isn't a solid as you like you can brace up the edge under your press.
1 piece 1/2" all-thread, 1 metal pipe/tube that the all-thread will fit in, 1/2" nut and washer. I wielded a 4" piece of 1.5 " angle on one end of the all-thread and one end of the metal tube, you could drill a hole 1/4 way through a piece of 2x4 and place that on each end.

 

[DLS]

In another thread @conditor22 mentioned putting a bit of case lube on the tip of the swage button of an RCBS primer pocket swage tool.

I tried this with my Dillon swager. I just touched my finger to some size wax and then quickly wiped the tip of he swage rod. I did this about every 5th round. I noticed a slight but still noticeable improvement in how much effort the swaging took. Especially when dong big batches this adds up. I wet tumble with stainless pins after so I'm not worried about contaminating the primer.

Another tip … I no longer debur the outside of the case neck after trimming. A wet tumble with pins smooths this out nicely. I haven't tried a long run to see if the inside would clean up too ... I'll do that the next time I run a batch through the trimmer so for now I still debur the inside of the case mouth.

 

[conditor22]

Before ordering, or casting any bullets, either slug the barrel or pound cast the chamber to get the bore groove depth.

slug the bore with pure/soft lead: fishing barrel weights, black powder round balls or pure/soft lead cast in the biggers mold you have for that caliber.

If the cast lead bullet isn't fat enough, tap on the nose this will make it shorter and fatter.

Oil the barrel and the lead (put a rag or towel in the chamber to catch excess oil and lead when you pound it through

start Pounding the lead through with a leather/wood/plastic/rubber face mallet to prevent possible damage to the crown.

Use either a brass/aluminum/wrapped steel rod (I lay out 2" blue tape and wrap steel rods, full length with 1 piece of tape until they just fit in the barrel)
****DO NOT USE WOOD DOWELS!!!!! unless the grain is perfectly straight they can shear and get wedged so tightly in the barrel you'll need a gunsmith to remove it with a hydraulic grease press*****

start the lead with a short piece of rod (easier to control) (I use a 2# sledge) lighten up when you near the chamber.

Clean and Mike the slug you just made and order/cast bullets .001 to .003 over that diameter (need to see what size fits in your chamber and what size/hardness you gun likes)

 

[conditor22]

Inexpensive elevated press mount

For certain operations I like my press elevated & extended to be more accessible when doing a lot of repetitive operations like bullet swaging or de-capping a large volume of cases. I bought a spare tire mount on Amazon for $13 (delivered), drilled a few holes & no more craned neck & sore shoulders!

https://www.amazon.com/MaxxHaul-70214-Powder-Trailer-Carrier/dp/B00RJKB2FQ/ref=sxin_0_osp20-a56f230c_cov?ascsubtag=a56f230c-56d2-44d7-8837-48faef268416&creativeASIN=B00RJKB2FQ&crid=1QZJD3N29YVAI&cv_ct_cx=maxxhaul+70214+powder+coat+black+trailer+spare+tire+carrier&cv_ct_id=amzn1.osp.a56f230c-56d2-44d7-8837-48faef268416&cv_ct_pg=search&cv_ct_wn=osp-search&keywords=maxxhaul+70214+powder+coat+black+trailer+spare+tire+carrier&linkCode=oas&pd_rd_i=B00RJKB2FQ&pd_rd_r=c1f79ef9-4406-4c53-9ca4-04b3720ff215&pd_rd_w=SZEva&pd_rd_wg=CVY9f&pf_rd_p=e1262d27-368d-44f1-a337-220e1af8b014&pf_rd_r=PD0GT37Z80MAAMHNBBRR&qid=1577831978&sprefix=maxxHaul+70214%2Caps%2C202&tag=bestcont06-20